Visual Communication

476395
2013
VCJ13110.1177/1470357213476395
visual communication
ARTICLE
Representing Chairman Mao: a

social-semiotic analysis of two statues on
a Red Tour
WENDY L BOWCHER
Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
JENNIFER YAMENG LIANG

University of Science and Technology Beijing, China
A bstract
This article presents an analysis of two entirely different statues of Chairman
Mao: the first, a full figure statue completed in 1993, and the other, an
immense bust completed in 2009. Both statues were sites included on a Red
Tour in which one of the authors participated in March 2011. It is assumed
that the tour organizers consider both of the statues worthy of visiting, and
of fulfilling the aims of a Red Tour. These aims, according to the accompany-
ing tour book, are broadly: to educate people about the history of the com-
munist party, to remind citizens of the foundations of the current China, to
instil national pride, and to provide a spiritual and enlightening experience
(Guolong Lvxingshe, 2011, our translation). The analysis in this article primarily
utilizes OTooles framework in The Language of Displayed Art (1994, 2011)
for analyzing sculpture, and provides insights into how each statue repre-
sents Chairman Mao by first analyzing its features, and then interpreting these
features against the socio-political context of the Red Tour, and in doing so,
enhancing our understanding of the social semiotic nature of public memori-
als. In the interpretation of the features of the statues, comparisons and con-
trasts are made between the meanings construed by each representation.
K eywords
China communism Mao Zedong patriotism Red Tour sculpture
social semiotic statues
1 I ntroduction
The first statue of Chairman Mao, the late leader and founder of the Peoples
Republic of China, was built in 1967 by a group of staff and students at
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Tsinghua University, one of Chinas top universities (Wu, 2007). After this,
statues appeared all over China, during what has become known as Maore or
Maocraze with the plinth often inscribed with: Long Live the Great Mentor,
Great Leader, Great General and Great Helmsman, Chairman Mao! Long Live!
Long Long Live! During the cultural revolution (19661976), many statues
of Mao were built to a height of 7.1 meters to symbolize the founding of the
Chinese Communist Party on 1 July; a plinth of 5.16 meters high was added
to represent the day when the 16 May Statement was issued to commence the
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution; thus a total height of 12.26 meters was
achieved, which symbolizes the birth date of Mao Zedong on 26 December
(Leese, 2011: 156157).
After the end of the cultural revolution, the government issued a decla-
ration to destroy many of these statues. However, more than 30 years since the
end of the cultural revolution, there still exists an enormous number of stat-
ues, memorials, and sculptures of Chairman Mao, and this number is on the
increase. These days, group tours are organized to encourage patriotism and
to honour the legacy of Chairman Mao and, on these tours, many statues and
memorial sites are visited. Such tours are often called, Hongse Lvyou, or Red
Tours, a term that has its origins in the Chinese revolution. Yin et al. (2005:
35) define Red Tours as:
The type of tourism activity that mainly refers to a visit to red tour-
ist sites for the purposes of educating visitors in patriotic and revolu-
tionary traditions. Red tourist sites are places that have to do with the
Chinese revolution. They include revolution relics, memorial places,
and related man-made landscapes. Among them, revolution relics
mainly include congress venues, former sites of revolutionary activi-
ties, former residences of the great people, and former battlefields.
Memorial places include memorial halls, museums, mausoleums, etc.
Man-made landscapes mainly include sculptures, stone carvings, and
theme parks, etc. (our translation)
In this article, we analyze two statues of Chairman Mao, one completed in

1993, and the other in 2009, which are included on a Red Tour in which one of
the authors participated in March 2011. It is assumed that the tour organizers
consider both of the statues worthy of visiting, and of fulfilling the aims of a
Red Tour. These aims, according to the accompanying tour book, are broadly:
to educate people about the history of the communist party, to remind citizens
of the foundations of the current China, to instil national pride, and to pro-
vide a spiritual and enlightening experience (Guolong Lvxingshe, 2011, our
translation). Our analysis provides insights into how each statue represents
Chairman Mao by first analyzing its features, and then interpreting these fea-
tures against the socio-political context of Red Tours and, in doing so, enhanc-
ing our understanding of the social semiotic nature of public memorials. In
the interpretation of the features of the statues, comparisons and contrasts are
made between the meanings construed by each representation.
4 Visual Communication 13(1)
The analysis primarily utilizes OTooles (1994, 2011) framework for the
language of sculptures and makes reference to previous work which also uses a
social semiotic approach to the analysis of sculptures, such as Abousnnouga and
Machins (2010) work on the analysis of war monuments. We also use concepts
from Kress and Van Leeuwens (1996, 2006) work on the grammar of visual design.
2 T he D ata : T he T wo S tatues
2.1 The statue at Chairman Maos birthplace, Shaoshan
Chong
The first statue we analyze is located at Maos birthplace in Shaoshan Chong,
Hunan Province. This statue was unveiled in December 1993 to commemo-
rate the 100th anniversary of Maos birth. The statue is situated in Mao Zedong
Square, formerly known as Chairman Mao Bronze Statue Square in the heart
of Shaoshan Chong. It captures the image of Mao Zedong at the founding cer-
emony of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949. One can
see a document in his hand and he is wearing a Chinese tunic or Zhong Shan
suit (zhongshan zhuang). Inscribed on the plinth is (Maozedong
Tongzhi, Comrade Mao) in the handwriting of the former General Secretary
Jiang Zemin. Other basic information about the features and dimensions of the
statue are listed in Table 1. A close-up image of the statue is shown in Figure 1,
and an image giving a sense of its size in relation to viewers is shown in Figure 2.
2.2 The statue on Orange Island (Juzizhou), Changsha

The second statue is a bust of Mao on Orange Island in Changsha. This statue,
which took almost three years to construct, was completed in December 2009.
Situated on manicured lawns and dwarfing the surrounding trees, it is a mas-
sive bust which captures the 32-year-old Chairman Mao during the era of the
First National Revolution (19241927). Table 2 sets out the dimensions of this
second statue. Figure 3 shows the bust, and Figure 4 shows the bust in propor-
tion to the visitors (note that the participants in the photograph are situated
approximately 100 meters from the statue itself).
3 A nalysing the S tatues from a S ocial

S emiotic P erspective
As with any kind of art form, a statue, or sculpture, is an expression of mean-
ing; it is a semiotic artefact. Sculptures can be created from almost any media
Table 1. Basic dimensions and features of the statue of Mao Zedong at Shaoshan
Chong. Source: Zhuang (1993).
Material plinth: granite; statue: bronze
Height 10.1 meters (symbolizing the day when the Peoples Republic
of China was founded: 1 October 1949);
plinth: 4.1 meters; statue: 6 meters
Weight 3.7 tons
BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 5
Figure 1. A close-up image of the statue of Mao Zedong at Shaoshan Chong showing
the inscription on the plinth, which says: Comrade Mao. Photograph: Wendy
Bowcher, 2011.
to artistically represent the world in a three-dimensional way. When encoun-

tering a sculpture, or statue, one cannot help asking: What is it about? And
on viewing it, certain feelings may be aroused, such as reverence, admiration,
indifference, or contempt. Sculptures, as semiotic artefacts, represent the
world as well as enact social relations.
An analysis of a sculpture can be conducted from many differ-
ent viewpoints historical, aesthetic, social, political, archaeological,
Figure 2. An image of the statue of Mao Zedong at Shaoshan Chong showing its size in
relation to viewers. Photograph: Wendy Bowcher, 2011.
compositional, or functional with analyses and interpretations of sculptures

particularly prominent in the fields of art history, history, the classics, and
archaeology. Kaltenbacher (2004: 191) cites Winckelmann (1969[1755]) and
Lessing (1990[1766]) as early influential works on the semiotic potential inher-
ent in different media or modes. And there are various more modern analyses of
sculpture (see, for example, Arnheim, 1948; Hopkins, 2010; Martin, 1981). Our
analysis, however, takes a social semiotic perspective as this allows us to analyze
the Mao statues in terms of how their constituents (their grammar) construe
meaning within a specific context of situation. The social semiotic framework is
based on a theoretically principled account of the way features of the language
(in this case, the language of sculptures) and features of context show a sys-
Table 2. Dimensions and features of the Mao Bust (He, 2009: 8).
Material G696 granite (Yongding Red)
Dimension height: 32 meters; length: 83 meters; width: 41 meters;

plinth: 3500 square meters
Weight approximately 2000 tons
Figure 3. The bust of Mao Zedong on Orange Island, Changsha. Photograph: Wendy
Bowcher, 2011.
Figure 4. The bust with visitors in front. Photograph courtesy of Zhang Xueying, 2011.
tematic correlation. The theory underlying this approach is Systemic Functional
Linguistic (SFL) theory, which has been extended to encompass semiotic sys-
tems other than language. The most comprehensive account of the extension of
this theory to the analysis of artwork such as sculpture is that by OToole (1994,
2011). Based on OTooles approach, Abousnnouga and Machin (2010) pro-
pose a slightly different model for analyzing monuments in commemoration of
World War I. Their model draws on other semiotic approaches to visual analysis
such as Barthes (1977), Panofsky (1972) and Kress and Van Leeuwen (see Kress
and Van Leeuwen, 1996, 2002, 2006; Van Leeuwen, 2005). Barthes differentia-
tion between denotation and connotation, and Kress and Van Leeuwens social
semiotic approach serve to inform how Abousnnouga and Machins model
accounts for the meaning potential of the semiotic systems. Panofskys concept
of iconography is adopted for interpreting sculpture from textual or contextual
knowledge. Furthermore, they point out that Kress and Van Leeuwens work
aligns closely with Critical Discourse Analysis, which highlights the ideological
meanings in visual communication.
Abousnnouga and Machins (2010) approach is particularly enlighten-
ing in revealing the ideological significances of monuments, but there is not
enough systematicity in terms of description and analysis. Therefore, we draw
on some of Abousnnouga and Machins work in our interpretation but follow
more closely OTooles framework in our initial analysis. The next section out-
lines OTooles (1994, 2011) framework.
3.1 OToole: a semiotic analysis of sculptures

OToole proposes a framework for understanding the meanings of displayed
art: paintings, sculptures, and architecture. To this end, he adopts the SFL con-
cept of meaning and its relation to context for analyzing the meanings con-
strued by the semiotic resources of visual art. For language, the theory posits
that in any situation a speaker/listener simultaneously attends to three main
things: the nature of the activity, including the subject matter involved (Field),
the social relations of the participants in the situation, their roles vis--vis one
another (Tenor), and the medium through which the exchange is taking place,
whether it be spoken or written and whether there is some channel through
which meanings are being conveyed, such as a telephone or computer (Mode).
These situational features are said to align in a general way with the functions
(meanings) and grammar of the language: Field with the experiential function
and with the expression of participants, processes, and circumstances; Tenor
with the interpersonal function and with the expression of speech roles and
attitudinal expressions; Mode with the textual function and with the structur-
ing of the discourse itself.
In applying these concepts and interrelations to the study of sculpture,
OToole argues that the experiential function can be thought of as represen-
tational, interpersonal as modal, and textual as compositional. Thus, the rep-
resentational function is mainly concerned with the construal of experience
events, things, and circumstances; the modal function has to do with the
enactment of social relations feelings, attitudes, status, and power; and the
compositional function has to do with the way that the semiotic resources are
brought together as a coherent whole.
Along with viewing the functions and meanings construed in a sculp-
ture, OToole also proposes a rank scale as another parameter along which an
artefact may be analyzed. By introducing the concept of rank, OToole pro-
vides a systematic way in to examining the artwork in terms of its constituent
components in an hierarchical order. Although rank is also a key concept
in SFL, OTooles concept of rank is somewhat less complex than that in SFL
theory. In SFL theory, rank relates to the process of realization and the organi-
zation of meaning into system networks. That is, although rank is defined in a
basic way as an hierarchy in which a unit of any rank consists of one or more
units of rank next below (Halliday and Webster, 2009: 237), a specific rank
is seen as the locus of structural configurations, each of which is specified
in the realization statements associated with the systemic features (p. 234).
Realization, which is the process through which an instance of meaningful
activity unfolds, involves a simultaneous re-sorting of choices in systems at
each rank. OTooles concept of rank relates more to the size and scope of the
object under examination with the starting point typically being the material
object itself and a focusing in from the whole object to its components, with-
out the concept of realization/instantiation playing a significant role in his
theoretical make up. For paintings, he notes that each rank of unit has its own
way of contributing to our involvement in the world of the picture (OToole,
2011: 14).
In visual systems, such as sculptures, the highest rank is Work, the
whole sculpture. This is composed of one or more Figures which are composed
of one or more Members. Moving from Work to Member, analysts move from
the general picture to the finest detail in order to arrive at a comprehensive
understanding of the makeup of the whole. OTooles analytical framework for
sculpture is presented in Table 3.
The functioncontext model and the rank scale together form a
framework to conduct a systematic analysis. However, it has also been
pointed out that OToole borrows generously from art history, with the sug-
gestion that no matter how one analyzes an artistic semiotic artefact, one
needs to have some knowledge of the fine arts, art history, and social con-
text to do so (Keefer, 1996). To some degree, this may be a valid criticism
but, from another perspective, it should not be seen as a negative criticism.
In interpreting the sculptures and understanding the meanings they con-
strue, one does need to delve somewhat into their socio-political context
to make sense of the choices that have been made. It is in this context that
the functions and structures of the sculptures are making sense; they are
realizing features of the context of situation. This is because the very con-
cept of semiotic, or semiosis must necessarily be seen as an intersubjec-
tive meaning-making enterprise. Material choices can only be meaningful
Table 3. OTooles framework for analysing Sculpture (2011: 34).
Function Representational Modal Compositional
Unit
WORK Process (action/event/ Scale (to human) Volume (relation

existence/relation) Mass to space)
Theme (religion/ Modality Proportion
magic/ Equilibrium (relation to setting)
civic/political) Palpability Independence
Peripeteia Message Openness/Closure
(narrative turning- Address Fixed/Mobile
point) Cohesion
Material
FIGURE Participants Scale Characterization Relative position in
(agents/patients/ Mass Gestalt
existence) Equilibrium Parallelism
Body Expressiveness Static/Dynamic
(anthropomorphic/ Address Fixed/Mobile
zoomorphic/ Vitality Rhythm
biomorphic/ Line Material
inorganic) Solidity
Act Relation to Light
Movement/Stasis
Position
MEMBER Basic Physical Forms Fullness of Realization Texture
(parts of the body/ (detailed/stylized/ Rhythmic
objects natural forms/ attenuated/ abstracted) Relations
machine parts/ Raw/Polished Material Qualities
geometric forms) Stress Factors
Drapery
if those choices are recognized as functioning in some way within a context

of situation. Without access to an artefacts relevant context, one can only
make statements about those choices from ones own socio-cultural percep-
tions, which may not reveal the wholly relevant details of the context that
motivates those choices. OToole (2011: 44) argues that, when analyzing an
artwork, the aim is not pure objectivity but a discourse that allows us
to recognize where objective description and analysis cease and subjective
interpretation and evaluation begin. For this reason, our analysis begins by
pointing out what the choices indicate from a general analytical perspective,
bearing in mind that in some instances, one does need to know something
of who is represented in the statues. We then interpret these choices by
looking at the specific socio-historical-political context in which the statues
make most sense.
4 A naly z ing the S tatue from M ao s
B irthplace
OToole (2011: 11) argues that the best way to start talking about a picture
when youre standing in front of it in a gallery is in terms of how it engages
your attention and thoughts and emotions, how you relate to the picture.
Thus, according to OToole, modal features provide the baseline for more
individual conceptions and flights of fancy (2011: 11). He likewise takes
this approach when he presents his analysis of sculpture and says sculpture
makes us actually aware of our body (OToole, 2011: 32, original emphasis).
We would argue that any of the functional parameters of an artwork could be
used as a starting point for talking about that artwork because, in the construal
of the artworks overall meaning, the three functions work together in a syn-
ergistic way (cf. Royce, 2007). How you relate to an artwork has as much to
do with its modal features as it does with its representational features, with the
compositional features enabling the overall meaningful construal of meaning.
Thus, we begin our analysis with the representational features of the sculptures
and, in doing so, we allow the modal or interpersonal impact of the sculptures
to emerge from the analysis.
4.1 Representational features

The statue at Maos birthplace presents a single figure. For this reason, we com-
bine our analysis of Work with that of Figure, and include an analysis of features
at the rank of Member where relevant. At the rank of Work, the Representational
features relate to the Process, Theme, and Peripeteia of the statue, and at Figure
to Participants, Body, Act, Movement/Stasis, and Position.
According to OToole (2011: 42), a sculpture of a single figure may be
a portrayal or a construal of a representative act. In this case, a static, stand-
ing position makes this sculpture of Mao one of a portrayal. He is standing
straight with his arms in front of his body. This is a fixed and stable posture
suggestive of formality and solemnity. The way his body is depicted is life-like,
or in other words, anthropomorphic.
Analysis at the level of Member involves looking at the parts of a sculp-
tured figure. The suit Mao wears is the classic Chinese tunic suit with drapery
clearly molded. Pinned on the top left pocket is a piece of ribbon, an acces-
sory for VIPs to wear on celebratory occasions in China. In his hands is a roll
of paper or documents, also suggestive of an important occasion. The sculp-
ture replicates the appearance of Chairman Mao at an epoch-making event, a
moment when he made the solemn announcement to China as well as the rest
of the world about the birth of a new nation.
4.2 Modal features

In an analysis of how sculptures engage the viewers and the space, the analysis
focuses on categories from Table 3 under the Modal function.
Scale: Scale often has to do with the scale of sculptures to that of the human
body. The total height of Mao in this sculpture is 6 meters with the proportion
scaled up accordingly (OToole, 2011). A larger than life scale suggests that the
figure represented is metaphorically larger than life. By sculpting a body with a
size that is four to five times that of an ordinary human being, the sculpture not
only gives physical strength but also a heroic essence to the subject.
Mass: Choices in the system of Mass are listed as: Centre of gravity, Solidity/
Penetrability, Interplay with space, Line/Relief , and Plasticity. Following
the centre of gravity, with Mao in a static standing position, the statue has
its gravity from waist down, which is further solidified by the cubic, granite
plinth. The statue is moulded and solid by the use of bronze as its material.
Furthermore, with Mao in an upright, standing posture, the sculpture involves
little interplay with space and is itself a solemn whole.
Equilibrium: The system of Equilibrium provides the tools for analyzing the
way a sculpture is either earthbound (Chthonic) or thrusts out and away
from the earth. The manner in which it relates to the earth has to do with the
system of Verticality. OToole presents Chthonic and Verticality as either-or
systems in a network, but his discussion indicates that they should be seen as
simultaneous systems of choices.
The statue is vertically constructed and thrusts out of the ground with a height
of 10.1 meters. The plinth, which is 4.1 meters above the ground, and the flower
bed surrounding the statue (see Figure 4) form a barrier to prevent visitors from
touching the sculpture (Palpability). Some statues are constructed so that viewers
can directly engage with them, touch them, stand next to them, link arms with
them (an example would be the statue of James Joyce in Trieste which is positioned
as though he is another pedestrian walking along the footpath). However, we can-
not touch this statue and this suggests that the viewer is meant to contemplate it
rather than physically engage with it, but not, casually in passing as happens with
many civic statues, or as hindered by highways and other noisy thoroughfares as is
the case for the Yuri Gagarin statue in Moscow (OToole, 2011: 40).
Address: Address in relation to sculptures is mainly concerned with gaze
(OToole, 2011: 39). In Kress and Van Leeuwens (1996, 2006) work on visual
address, the study of gaze is combined with what is called image act to exam-
ine the types of interactive (interpersonal) meanings that are being construed.
It is generally with the presence of a gaze directed towards the viewers that
images often demand something (often service) from the viewers; without gaze,
images can be interpreted as offering information. Abousnnouga and Machin
(2010) apply the system of Gaze as a parameter to measure the modal meanings
of war monuments. They find that neither the Cardiff nor the Tunbridge Wells
statues engage with viewers through any direct gaze. Rather, their gaze toward
the horizon is a look metaphorically to the future and high ideals and creates a
context of wanting the public to see the soldiers as part of a different world, one
of glory of God and magnificence of classical civilization (p. 144).
Looking horizontally ahead into the distance, Mao does not make eye
contact with the viewers and is thus set apart from the public. Meanwhile,
Mao is characterized (Characterization) as steady, solemn, and calm due to
his straight, upright posture and little facial expression shown by the sculpting
of lips only very slightly turned up, and a lack of laugh-lines around the eyes
or furrows shown on the forehead.
The red carpet leading to the statue also enacts a type of Address. A red
carpet typically symbolizes VIP status and is used on many occasions both in
the popular entertainment world (the celebrity red carpet at the Oscars), and
in state visits by dignitaries and the like. Placing a red carpet leading to the
front of the statue (see Figure 6), signifies that the subject of the statue is of
VIP status, and walking the red carpet for the visitors involves acknowledging
this VIP status as the red carpet is primarily reserved for those who have come
to pay their respects to Mao. This again, indicates a certain relation between
this statue and the viewers.
Modality: The system of Modality has to do with choices which construe
authenticity. This system is presented in Figure 5.
In Kress and Van Leeuwens terms, Modality has to do with believabil-
ity or truth value, and this seems to accord with OTooles sense of authentic-
ity. Abstractness is considered the least realistic and hence offers the lowest
degree of authenticity. With Mao represented in a very life-like manner (albeit
larger than life in terms of scale), the statue has a great resemblance with real-
ity, and hence is an authentic representation.
At the rank of Member, the statue presents Mao in a detailed manner.
Features including his hair line, facial expression, hands, and the suit he wears
are clearly and finely shown. The statue also includes detailed features such as
the ribbon on his pocket and a roll of paper in his hands. These features add
to the authenticity of the representation, and more vividly allow visitors to
remember the great moment in which Mao is represented here.
Expressiveness & Relation to light: One can detect a slight beam behind the calm
and formality of Maos face, perhaps because his lips are very slightly turned up,
not turned down in a frown or grimace. Furthermore, the statue faces towards
the northeast so that, on the one hand, the first rays of the rising sun can touch
his face and, on the other hand, the statue directly faces Maos birthplace.
Message: The message is thus one of both respect for an individual, a leader, rep-
resented by the statue, and of representing someone who is greater than the aver-
age person, a leader who is worthy of respect, admiration, and reverence.
4.3 Compositional features

Volume in relation to space & Proportion in relation to setting: The statue is
located on the Mao Zedong Square, also formerly known as the Chairman
life-like
exaggerated
MODALITY
attenuated
abstract
Figure 5. OTooles system of choices in Modality (reproduced from OToole, 2011: 36).
Figure 6. Visitors holding a commemorative wreath to place at the foot of the Mao
statue. This photograph is taken just before the visitors go up the stairs (shown in the
background) to the level on which the Mao statue is located. Photograph: Wendy
Bowcher, 2011.
Mao Bronze Statue Square (Mao Zhuxi Tongxiang Guangchang). Construction

of the square was completed in 1993 to a size of 3970 square meters. In 2008,
as a commemoration of what would have been Maos 115th birthday, the
square was expanded to cover an area of 102,800 square meters. At this time,
the Mao statue was also relocated towards the southwest 84.5 meters from its
original spot in order for it to more directly face his birthplace.
The new Mao Zedong Square can host 10,000 to 15,000 visitors at
a time and is divided into four sections (Liu and Lin, 2008). The statue is
located on the highest level of the square, with several stairways leading to it.
Immediately surrounding the statue is the revering area, a place for visitors
to place wreaths and express their reverence. Leading up to the statue is a red
carpet along which individual groups move, one behind the other, until each
group has time to take a photograph and lay a wreath at the foot of the Mao
statue (see Figure 6). Moving down the first stairway is the visiting area for
visitors to take photos. Moving down yet another stairway is the commemo-
rating area where visitors can hold memorial activities and gatherings. The
rest of the square is the leisure area. In other words, all four sections centre
around the statue which is not dependent on anything (Independence) and
has no skyscrapers or bustling cars passing by. Although the statue is fixed in
open ground, its location on a platformed area of the square surrounded by a
garden at its base, with hedges set a little further away at the back and sides,
and only one set of stairs leading to it make the immediate area of the statue a
relatively closed one (Closeness).
Materials: This statue uses bronze for the body of Mao and granite for the
plinth. Due to its high degree of tensile strength (visual-arts-cork.com), his-
torically, bronze has been one of the most widely used metallic materials for
sculpture. According to Abousnnouga and Machin (2010: 145), bronze con-
strues a sense of tradition, or more accurately, timelessness. Granite has likely
been chosen for the plinth because of its strength and durability, but perhaps
also because of its natural beauty, its traditional use for building foundations,
and its use in sculpture (Stille et al., 2008).
Parallelism & Rhythm: As a vertically construed statue, this sculpture has a
rectangular plinth supporting a figure that is standing upright and symmetric.
There is thus a sense of parallelism and rhythmic repetition established in the
height of the plinth and the verticality of the statue itself. There is also a sense
of rhythm established by the layering of the top part of the plinth, and the
layering of the steps leading to the statue, and also from the broad outline of
the grounds leading in to the location of the statue. The statue is thus the focal
point of the grounds both in the sense that it rests on the highest level of the
plinth, and represents the highest point in the grounds. This sense of focusing
in is also echoed in the layout of the grounds themselves which lead in to the
statue through the ever rising layers of steps. And the focus is reinforced by the
laying of red carpet leading up to the front of the statue.
Cohesion: Cohesion of a statue not only comes from the interplay among, say,
materials, color and texture in the statue itself (e.g. OToole, 1994, 2011), but
also from its connection with the setting. In this sculpture, there is an obvi-
ous sense of cohesion established by the degree of durability of the materials
used in its construction: bronze and granite, as well as through its location as
the focal point of the grounds (see previous section). There is also a politico-
spiritual cohesion between the color of the plinth, red granite, with the red
color of the communist party. However, the red of the plinth is deeper and
more subtle, which itself suggests a degree of austerity and solemnity. On the
other hand, the cohesion is also established between the statue, the square, and
Maos birthplace, all of which are memorial places of Chairman Mao.
5 A naly z ing the S tatue on O range I sland ,

C hangsha
The statue of Mao on Orange Island is actually an immense bust, and as this,
too, represents a single figure, or person, the rank of Figure and Work are
again conflated in the analysis.
5.1 Representational features

The only participant represented in the bust on Orange Island is a young man,
whom we recognize as a young Mao Zedong. There is little action represented
in the sculpture since, as a bust, it represents a state of being, an existence,
more than anything else, but there is some movement construed by the sculpt-
ing of the hair as blowing in the wind. Because we recognize the subject as
Mao, we can say that the theme is political.
At the rank of Member, the bust presents a smooth-faced young man
with thick hair and full lips. The eyes and eyelids are quite detailed, and there
is a mole on his chin. The representation extends to the subjects throat, and
to the collar of his clothing and his shoulders, although the latter are more
abstract in nature than the former.
Whereas in a full body sculpture, drapery of clothing can indicate
movement, in a bust, the depiction of movement may be achieved through
other means. Here, the hair is fashioned to appear to be blowing in the wind,
as it is shown protruding from the right-hand side of his face and close
against the left-hand side of his face. This lends a somewhat dynamic feel
to the bust.
5.2 Modal features

Scale to human: Although the statue represents only a bust of Mao, it is like the
tip of an iceberg, where the greatest proportion of the iceberg is located below
the surface, out of view. Viewers can reasonably imagine what the whole body
size would be like. As a statue makes us acutely and immediately aware of
our body (OToole, 2011: 32, emphasis in the original), the scale of this statue
induces a sense of awe in the viewer. We are inevitably made to feel small, and
less significant, less grand, and somehow less important.
Mass: With regard to the busts centre of gravity, the Orange Island
statue is placed on a horizontal plane, firmly fixed within the earth, and
seeming to emerge from it, like the iceberg analogy mentioned earlier. It is not
so much carved as pieced together with granite blocks, but it gives the impres-
sion that it has been carved out of a single piece of rock rather than molded.
Its smooth edges suggest greater mass (OToole, 2011: 35) and make it appear
impenetrable. Its interplay with space is interesting as it appears as part of
the landscape. It is unlike the sculptures of the former US presidents which
are carved into the side of Mount Rushmore, but perhaps akin in some ways
to Australias Uluru (Ayers Rock), jutting out above the earth with flat land
around it, although not as large as Uluru.1
Equilibrium: The Mao bust is most definitely earthbound, with only the
head and shoulders appearing above the earth as already mentioned, and
the head is upright, and hence vertical; different from, say, Igor Mitorajs
Tte Endormie, which shows the sculpture of a head resting on its side (see
Figure 7).
Address: While the Mao sculpture is massive, it is not shown as looking down
on the viewer. Rather, the eyes are directed across into the distance, and thus
do not address the viewer directly. This is different, however, to the Mitoraj
head (Figure 7) which also does not address the viewer. In the Mitoraj head,
the eyes are closed and the face appears as though bandaged, like that of
a mummy. The effect is to suggest a sleeping, inward gaze, rather than an
Figure 7. Igor Mitorajs Tte Endormie (1983) at the Hakone Outdoor Art Museum,
Japan. Photograph: Wendy Bowcher, 2010.
outward gaze. The gaze of the Mao bust into the distance is similar to
Abousnnaga and Machins (2010: 144) statues whose gazes suggest the future
and high ideals.
The size of the Mao bust plays a role in the way it addresses the viewer,
as its immensity forces the viewer to stand far back in order to appreciate it. If
one were too close to the sculpture (and in fact this is not allowed as the area
around it is either cordoned off or guards will quickly direct visitors back to
the pathways), it would be impossible to make out what you were looking at:
a stone wall? A cliff face? So the viewer is forced to stand far back to admire
the subject of the bust. The lack of address to the viewer means that the sub-
ject is presented to be viewed not engaged with directly (cf. Kress and Van
Leeuwen, 2006).
Palpability: The Mao bust is located on expansive lawns with shrubs and a
security line keeping visitors from getting too close. Walking across the lawns,
or climbing the sculpture, would connote a sense of disrespect, and would
likely detract from the kind of message that the creators and commissioners of
the work had in mind.
Modality: Although the bust itself is larger than life, it is fashioned as real-
istic due to the proportionate representation of the head, facial features, and
hair. It is thus categorized as life-like and authentic in terms of the system
of Modality.
Expressiveness: The expression on Maos face is almost one of calm contempla-
tion. We say almost here because the very slight furrowing of the brows gives
the face a somewhat serious expression. But the seriousness is not deep-set, in
that the lips are placed together, not pursed, and the eyes look into the distance
as already noted. The eyes are not necessarily seeking, as this would likely
require a greater furrowing of the brows or a squinting expression, but looking
perhaps in earnestness.
Relation to Light: The sculpture faces southeast which means that it catches
the morning sun in the east, and is backgrounded with the setting sun in the
afternoon.
Message: From an analytical point of view, the general message conveyed by
the Work as a whole through the various artistic choices suggest greatness,
awe, earthboundedness, solidity, lack of direct address, respect, earnest con-
templation of the future, and authenticity.
Features at the rank of Member include the face, hair, lips, eyes, and
throat of Mao. These are represented in realistic proportions and shape. His
collar and shoulders, however, are presented in a more abstract style, the collar
looking somewhat bumpy, or rocky, and the shoulders more like rock cliffs
than shoulders, thus adding to the appearance of it being carved rather than
constructed from pieces.
5.3 Compositional features
Volume & Proportion: The sculpture is 32 meters high, 83 meters long and
41 meters wide. It is set on Orange Island, which is said to be the longest
inland river island in the world (asaivtour.com/China). Orange Island is able
to accommodate the immensity of the Mao bust, and with space to spare. The
size of the Orange Island statue and its height in relation to the surrounding
grounds gives it a salience (cf. Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006). As Figure 4
shows, trees, shrubs, and visitors to the site are literally dwarfed by the statue,
and yet the statue represents only the head and partial shoulders of Mao.
As already noted, it is not possible to walk directly up to the front of the
bust and there are guards positioned nearby to quickly direct people off the
lawn and back onto the pathways. So, in this sense, the sculpture is both open
in that it is out in the open, but closed in that it is not possible to go up to it
and touch it (Openness/Closeness).
The sculpture stands alone and fixed, and its location on Orange Island
means that residents on the opposite banks of the river are able to view it,
reinforcing its salience (cf. Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006).
Material: This immense bust is said to be constructed out of more than 8,000
pieces of stones known as yongding red (He, 2009). According to He (2009),
this stone is reddish grey under sunlight and red in the rain, with the color
thus resembling the color of human skin but also that of the national flag. This
again points to a cohesion with the color of the communist party.
Parallelism, Rhythm & Cohesion: Li (2010) describes Mao in this statue as a

child born out of a mountain. The way his hair flows parallels the shape of the
mountain. This metaphor is reinforced by the change in representation: from
highly realistic in the representation of the hair and facial features, to abstract
and earthlike in the representation of the shoulders. In an interview with Xie
Liwen who was on the team creating the Mao bust, Martinsen (2009) reports:
For the torso of the young Mao Zedong statue, the creative team chose the
form of a mountain: It expresses Maos magnificence, and also shows that he
came out of Shaoshan.2 Indeed, at first, one could say that Mao is emerging
from the earth, but that interpretation is mitigated by the abstractness of the
shoulders, which appear more organic and earthlike than representative of
human shoulders; he is not so much emerging as being formed out of the earth.
A romantic rhythm is established by way of the dynamism of the wind-
swept hair as well as the vitality of the youthful Mao construed by the sculp-
ture. The earthlike base of the sculpture coheres with the surrounding area in
the sense that, unlike the 1993 Mao statue which stood on a plinth, the bust of
Mao blends into the earth.
6 I nterpretation of the A nalysis

In the previous sections, we followed OTooles framework in conducting a
fairly straightforward analytical description of the two statues (although on
occasions making some interpretive comments). In this section, we compare
and contrast the analytical findings, and interpret the analysis to indicate what
the findings (the identified choices) mean against the socio-historical-political
background of the statues, particularly as part of a Red Tour and the meanings
associated with such a tour. This section thus picks up some of the key analyti-
cal findings from the previous section.
6.1 A single figure representation

As a key political figure in Chinese history, Mao Zedong is made salient by
being the sole represented participant in both sculptures. Indeed, Maos place
in the history of modern China is significant. He is considered the great found-
ing father of the Peoples Republic of China, Chairman Mao. And although
there have been waves of fervour for Mao, and some negative, such as directly
after the cultural revolution, the fact is:
Unlike Stalin in the Soviet Union, Mao was never officially repudiated
by the Chinese Communist Party, despite the devastation the coun-
try suffered under his rule. Thus, his icon has never ceased to be con-
sidered the quintessential representation of modern China. (Lago,
1999: 50)
Thus, there is no other person of equal significance to Mao, and the pleth-
ora of single figure statues such as those analyzed in this research attest to
that.
The single figure representation at Maos birthplace and, along with
this, the construction of areas with steps leading to the statue, with places to
buy wreaths to lay, and with a red VIP-like carpet leading to the single fig-
ure, present Mao as almost godlike. In fact, this interpretation may not be
far from the mark, and is supported by attitudes surrounding Mao at certain
times and by certain groups of people throughout modern Chinese history
(cf. Leese, 2011). A visit to this particular statue may involve several rituals:
the slow walk up the red carpet holding the wreath, the placing of the wreath
at the foot of the statue, the genuflecting with hands clasped in prayer, bowing
three times, and a walk around the statue three times, which is said to bring
the visitor good fortune. A statue of more than one individual, could not offer
this singular form of adoration. Even though the large Orange Island bust
is also a representation of a single figure, it does not motivate this kind of
behaviour, and the surrounding area is not designed to accommodate it. This
statue represents a different time in Maos life, and suggests a different sense in
contemporary Chinese history.
6.2 Size
In both statues, Mao is represented with a larger than human body size and
in an upright position, which is a symbol of physical greatness and strength.
In sculptures of this kind, size is used as a metaphor for heroic spirit. For
the first statue, indeed, the founding ceremony of the Peoples Republic of
China is an epic moment in Chinas recent past, and to represent Mao as he
was dressed on that day, in a larger than life size, signifies the importance of
this moment. But the size also allows visitors to scrutinize the statue from
a short distance away and yet to still be within the space surrounding the
statue, to see the details of the Chinese tunic suit, the VIP ribbon he wears
in his top pocket, and the roll of documents in his hand. Unlike a painting
which presents a pictorial space that no viewer can enter, a statue dwells in
the same physical space as the viewer (Arnheim, 1984: 319). Thus, to be able
to distinguish the details of Mao in this statue, gives viewers a sense of being
there and seeing Mao unhindered by other viewers, on the great occasion
that the statue stands for.
The Orange Island statue is so immense that the interpretation is that
Mao, as a young man, is truly a hero of great proportions, whose gift for disci-
pline and foresight forged the path of a great nation. That this particular statue
has only recently been constructed is also significant as it marks a time in his-
tory when China is forging ahead on the world stage, both economically, and
politically, with great power and an awe-inspiring vision for the future. The
bust on Orange Island not only represents the monumental vision that China
has for itself, but is a reminder of where this vision originated a reminder
that cannot be ignored, not least because of the statues sheer size and propor-
tions. The fact that the visitors must stand back and view from a distance, and
can see the bust from a vast distance, the surrounding neighbourhoods across
the river, is also significant. As a viewer, one stands back and looks with awe
at the grand size, the grand vision that the young Mao represents.
6.3 The gaze

In both statues, Mao does not directly engage with the viewer. Rather, he is
represented as looking ahead into the distance: a person with great vision
and insight. The 1993 statue of Mao at the founding ceremony of the Peoples
Republic of China represents the new China, and the beginning of the work
towards this new China. Mao, in this statue, is at the threshold of what lies
ahead. His vision is to the immediate future, of how to reshape China, and all
the work that this will entail. As viewers of the 1993 statue, we are witness to
the contemplation of this immediate future. But the depiction of Mao in this
gaze coupled with the holding of something as concrete as documents, points
to the very real, very keen understanding that Mao, as a leader, had of the work
at hand, and a reminder to viewers of what has been sacrificed along the way
in order to realize this vision.
Mao, as depicted in the Orange Island statue, is also not engaging with
the viewer. Here, he is depicted as a young man of 32, and the year is 1925.
At this time, the new China has not yet come about. Rather, it is a time when
China is in a chaotic state due to internal warfare among warlords, corrup-
tion across various political and economic fronts, and semi-colonization from
external forces. But it is also at this time that Mao has a vision for a new China,
and a desire to see it come about. His gaze in this statue can be interpreted as
idealistic. In fact, the eyes of this statue are very cleverly constructed. There are
stone posts set into the irises and, through the interplay of light and shade cast
by these stone posts, the eyes are made to appear highly expressive, with an
earnest, contemplative appearance. Here Mao is depicted as gazing into an
idealistic future a future China that is as yet a vision in a young mans imagi-
nation.
6.4 The locations

The location of each of these statues has been carefully thought out. As we
have already noted, Mao is set apart as a heroic figure and, in both statues, his
face receives the first ray of sunshine every morning. This capturing of first
light is symbolic as Mao is represented as an icon of hope for a new China.
Meanwhile, both sculptures are surrounded by an area that stops visitors from
getting near so that they admire and look up to the statues from a distance
and, in doing so, look towards the founder of this hope.
Whether it is the massive square for reverencing and commentating
activities or the immense area on an island, both locations allow the figure
of Mao to be the centre of visitors attention. Materials are used to cohere
naturally with the environment as well as to highlight the characteristics of
Chairman Mao: a leader who is strong, and ready for work, or an idealistic
young man with a great vision.
Applying Kress and Van Leeuwens concept of the long shot and close-
up shot, the 1993 statue can be interpreted as representing a long shot. A pho-
tographic long shot is said to be associated with a public distance (Hall, 1966)
which is often indicative of a public figure. Indeed, in this statue, Mao repre-
sents a public figure, the leader and founder of the new China.
In contrast to a long shot, a close-up tends to be associated with inti-
macy, with what Hall calls a close personal distance which is suggestive of a
close relationship between the viewer and the subject. The bust of Mao can
be seen as a very close-up shot of Mao and, as viewers, we are drawn in to
the face of Mao, to that part where ideas reside, in a very intimate and pro-
found way. However, this is an extreme close-up, like a portrait magnified on
a grand scale. Here we come face to face with Mao as a vigorous and prom-
ising young man. That such a close-up view takes considerable space has a
very powerful effect. As pointed out by Li Ming, the creator of the Mao bust,
a close-up, or bust can have a more powerful impact on viewers when placed
on an island like this than a full-figured statue with a head only a few meters
high (Li, 2010: 3).
Orange Island, however, is not just any island. The island itself is a sig-
nificant location in relation to the life of Mao. It is a place that young Mao
Zedong frequented, and is very often associated with a poem written by Mao
in 1925 (English translation from Schram, 1994: 225226):
Changsha
(To the Tune of Spring in Qin Garden)
(Autumn)
I stand alone in the autumn cold,
Where the River Xiang flows northward,
At Orange Islands head.
I see a myriad peaks all red,
Dyed through and through by serried woods;
On the wide streams limpid blue-green waters,
A hundred boats battle the current.
Eagles strike at the endless void,
Fish hover in the shallow bottoms,
All creatures strive for freedom under the frosty sky.
Baffled by this immensity,
I ask the vast expanse of earth,
Who, then, controls the rise and fall of fortunes?
Hand-in-hand with all my companions, I roamed this place in the past.
Now I call to mind those glorious years and days of old.
School friends just in the prime of youth,
We were then at lifes full flowering;
With the scholars idealistic fervor,
Upright and fearless, we spoke out unrestrainedly.
Pointing the finger at our land,
Impassioned exhortations we wrote,
Counting as dung and dust the high and mighty of the day.
Do you still remember,
How we thrashed about in midstream currents,
Making a wake that stayed the speeding boats?
Running through this poem are the vigorous spirit and ideals of the young
Mao, which are expressed through his gaze, and which visitors are profoundly
witness to in the very intimacy of an extreme close-up of Maos face on the
lawns of Orange Island.
6.5 The age at which Mao is represented

The most common depiction of Chairman Mao in statues across
China, both past and in present times, is of him in his 50s, that is, as the
founding father of the Peoples Republic of China after 1949. This is the
image that people are most familiar with and, most significantly, the one that
they respect and revere. Representing Mao at around this age can remind
visitors of his contribution and heroic deeds achieved in the first half of his
life. The statue on Orange Island, however, presents a much younger look-
ing Mao and, in fact, a depiction of Mao that is unusual and not familiar to
most people. One of the Member features of Maos face in both statues is
the mole on his chin. However, it is said that there was no mole on Maos
chin when he was young, and in the year 1925. Thus, in order to depict Mao
as the young man of idealistic vision for China at a time when China was
in such chaos, Maos daughter-in-law, General Shao Hua suggested that the
mole be added to the young Maos face so that the image could be recog-
nized more easily as that of Mao, as it would be closer to the one in most
peoples minds (He, 2009: 8).
Another Member feature that depicts his youth is the sculpting of a full
head of hair, not in a style that is set close to his head as in the 1993 statue, but
one that is slightly longer and sculpted to appear to be blowing in the wind.
McMurtrie (2010: 402) notes that haircuts can be viewed as texts in and of
themselves. They are socially constructed to have meanings and to do certain
things, such as to create an identity or impression. Martinsen (2009) reports
that the first concern of the Mao bust creators was uniqueness and artistry.
Further, the designers wanted to capture the expansive abandon of the poem,
Changsha. The looseness of the hairstyle and the sculpting of the windswept
hair are suggestive of Maos youth and of ideas still in the making.
This new depiction also seems to hint at a change in attitudes towards
the representation of Chairman Mao one that reflects current ideologies and
fashions in China. Completed in 2009, the statue on Orange Island can be
interpreted as suggesting a transition from perceptions and representations
of Chairman Mao: not just an association with politics and revolution but a
closer association with culture (e.g. Chen, 2007; Gao, 2010; Tan, 2010). For
instance, one blogger notes:
Maos speeches are rendered in beautiful calligraphy and proudly hung

in public places. Shaoshan, his birthplace, from which emerged the
death of Chinese religion, ironically has become a shrine to which
thousands make their pilgrimage Mao Tse Tung has become a cul-
tural icon that symbolizes China. His face and figure can be found
in every souvenir shop in China where T-shirts, mugs, keychains,
refrigerator magnets are emblazoned with his image, sometimes in an
absurdly irreverent manner. (Mariano, 2012)
A Global Times online article notes that Mao is no longer worshipped

as he once was, but his image can be seen everywhere. The only difference
is that it has been transformed into pop culture (Zhu, 2009). Giridharadas
(2012) observes: Maos portrait still adorns the money and still hangs exalt-
edly on the gates to the Forbidden City. But officially, at least, China has tried
to tamp down enthusiasm for his ideas. Gao (2010: 16) provides a historical
account of this transition:
To put it simply, the 1950s is what we call the era of Communist

Realization. What socialist revolution does is to provide the public
with a future of happiness. Images of Mao Zedong in this era were
manifest as the objectization of a happy future. Later, due to the Great
Leap Forward and the three years of natural disasters, the happy images
altered. In the era of cultural revolution, Chairman Mao was turned
into an object of faith, which brought forward a sense of awe. With the
reflections on the merits and faults of the Chairman along with a wave
of criticism, images of Chairman Mao seemed to attract little atten-
tion from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. In the mid 1980s, images
of Chairman Mao appeared in a different form, a folk icon that was
sold along with the sculptures of Kuan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess
of Mercy. Since the 1990s, attention towards the image of Chairman
Mao was renewed. Here, in a context of the critique of post-culturism
towards culture, Chairman Mao becomes the hero of the New Left.
Furthermore, in the context of culturism and populism, cultural tra-
ditions were renewed, with the view that Chairman Mao is no longer
viewed as simply a leader of the Chinese revolution, but is reinterpreted
in the context of Chinese cultural traditions. (our translation)
Lago (1999: 47) argues that the icon of Mao can be considered
as a discursive space where different, sometimes antithetical, ideological
strategies are negotiated, often simultaneously. Zou (2010) points out that
it is due to the marketization and economic reform that we see somewhat
of a transition from political meanings to cultural meanings. The 1990s
saw a renewed interest in artworks depicting Mao, with 1993, the cente-
nary of Maos birth, seeing the Mao cult becoming a grandly orchestrated
movement that officially promoted and marketed a new brand of reform-
style nationalism (Lago, 1999: 50). While this fervor waned somewhat in
the years that followed (Barm, 1996: 5), in more recent years people have
started to view the images of Chairman Mao as a representation, a sign, a
symbol, and a Chinese spirit (Zou, 2010, our translation). Indeed, from our
description and analysis we see that the Orange Island statue represents Mao
as a young man full of energy and vision, which seems to reflect modern
ideological leanings towards Chairman Mao. But the representation of Mao
in the Orange Island bust is still unusual and whether or not this style of
representation will usurp that of the more traditional Mao as represented in
the 1993 sculpture and in the majority of sculptures and visual representa-
tions in their attendant contexts, both political and cultural (including pop
cultural contexts), appears unlikely.
Nevertheless, the Orange Island statue is a representation that looks both
back and ahead; it is a way of seeing Mao not just as a revolutionist but also a
poet, not just as an icon of immediate change through hard work and leadership,
but as an icon of hope for a society that embraces its political and its cultural past
and future a representation that reflects the aims of the Red Tour.
7 C oncluding C omments
This article has applied OTooles (1994, 2011) framework for the analysis of
sculpture, to analyzing two statues of Chairman Mao Zedong, one from his
birthplace and the other, the bust on Orange Island. From our analytical find-
ings, we interpret the features of the Mao statues within their socio-historical-
political context, and show how the statues reflect the aims of the Red Tour.
As commemorative sites on a Red Tour, the statues are spatial and tem-
poral landmarks loaded with memory (Osborne, 2001: 15). Savage (1997:
4) observes:
Public monuments are the most conservative of commemorative

forms precisely because they are meant to last, unchanged, forever.
While other things come and go, are lost and forgotten, the monument
is supposed to remain a fixed point, stabilizing both the physical and
the cognitive landscape. Monuments attempt to mold a landscape of
collective memory, to conserve what is worth remembering and dis-
card the rest.
The two statues on the Red Tour reflect the way that such tours play a role in
carefully crafting this memory by promoting a positive, nationalistic ideol-
ogy; one that is encouraging and uplifting, and aiming to instil a sense of hope
and patriotism.
F unding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public,
commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
notes
1. Uluru (Ayers Rock) is 348 meters high, 3.6 kilometers long and 1.9
kilometers wide. (see http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.
com/ayers-rock-facts.html).
2. Shaoshan means Shao Mountain.
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B iographical notes
WENDY L BOWCHER is a Professor in the School of Foreign Languages at
Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Her research interests include
multimodal discourse analysis of Japanese and English texts, context in
Systemic Functional Linguistics theory, English intonation, and language
education.
Address: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Foreign Languages, 135 Xingangxi
Road, Guangzhou 510275, China. [email: wendybowcher@gmail.com]
JENNIFER YAMENG LIANG is a lecturer at the University of Science

and Technology Beijing. Her research interests center on both theoretical
explorations and practical applications of Systemic Functional Linguistics
(SFL), in particular, the concepts of context and ecosocial environment and
multimodal/multisemiotic studies. In her doctoral research, she conducted
research on the dynamic meaning making practices and processes of Chinese
tourist site entry tickets.
Address: University of Science and Technology, Beijing, School of Foreign Studies,
30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083,China. [email: l.jennifer.w@gmail.com]

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476395

Representing Chairman Mao: a

JENNIFER YAMENG LIANG

In this article, we analyze two statues of Chairman Mao, one completed in

4 Visual Communication 13(1)

2.2 The statue on Orange Island (Juzizhou), Changsha

3 A nalysing the S tatues from a S ocial

Material plinth: granite; statue: bronze

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 5

to artistically represent the world in a three-dimensional way. When encoun-

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compositional, or functional with analyses and interpretations of sculptures

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 7

Material G696 granite (Yongding Red)

Dimension height: 32 meters; length: 83 meters; width: 41 meters;

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3.1 OToole: a semiotic analysis of sculptures

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 9

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Function Representational Modal Compositional

WORK Process (action/event/ Scale (to human) Volume (relation

if those choices are recognized as functioning in some way within a context

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 11

4.1 Representational features

4.2 Modal features

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BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 13

4.3 Compositional features

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Mao Bronze Statue Square (Mao Zhuxi Tongxiang Guangchang). Construction

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 15

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5 A naly z ing the S tatue on O range I sland ,

5.1 Representational features

5.2 Modal features

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 17

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BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 19

Parallelism, Rhythm & Cohesion: Li (2010) describes Mao in this statue as a

6 I nterpretation of the A nalysis

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6.1 A single figure representation

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 21

6.3 The gaze

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6.4 The locations

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 23

6.5 The age at which Mao is represented

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Maos speeches are rendered in beautiful calligraphy and proudly hung

A Global Times online article notes that Mao is no longer worshipped

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 25

To put it simply, the 1950s is what we call the era of Communist

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Public monuments are the most conservative of commemorative

BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 27

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BOWCHER: Representing Chairman Mao 29

JENNIFER YAMENG LIANG is a lecturer at the University of Science

30 Visual Communication 13(1)

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